Week 14

Amanda and I got to go to the doctor again today and got to hear Baby Agnew’s heartbeat again. That sucker was kicking just as fast as the last time! They found it a lot quicker than last time, and it was so neat because as she was searching, once she locked onto the sound, I recognized it so quickly. It was almost like hearing someone’s voice in a crowd that you know, and even though you hear a bunch of other stuff, you recognize their voice above all the rest.

Yeah, that’s pretty much how I heard my baby’s heart today. A lot of static, but then I heard it again, and I was thinking, “that’s my baby running it’s heartbeat like a bunch of horses galloping through the field.” Amanda is doing great, and we are just honored to be going through this. I already feel love in a fierce way for this kid even though I haven’t seen him/her yet. I think my prayers to God making me more like him may have some of his reply in this baby. Just a preview I think.

Here’s what is medically going on with Baby Agnew this week:

This week’s big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he’ll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you’re having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

In other news: Your baby’s stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body’s growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that’s in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He’s starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby’s liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it’s doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can’t feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist’s hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.